"Elsewhere" and Beyond Growing Pains in Williamsburg

"Elsewhere", the Williamsburg Art Festival 2000, is the first attempt by this rough and tumble art community to enlist all its member galleries and art organizations to sponsor a cooperative area-wide event that may mark the beginning of Williamsburg as a big league destination art center. As with any discussion of social phenomena, there are countless aspects and forces to be considered. Williamsburg has evolved as the latest area of cutting-edge art activity in the city. Many locals are watching with great interest to see what changes these developments will bring. Although I attempted to contact as many people as practical for this article, I must apologize for any omissions. It was more a matter of deadlines than relevance. Having watched the rise and fall of Soho and the ascendancy of the Chelsea neighborhood as gallery centers, as well as the "boomlet" of the East Village, I'm fascinated by the machinations and unexpected growth spurts of the art community. The art scene is one of the last bastions of truly unregulated cultural force.

A Brief History

Williamsburg, due to its cheap rents and large stock of unused industrial space, and its easy access to Manhattan, has for decades been a haven to the artist and bohemian. As the art boom of the mid-eighties invaded the East Village, art world pundits predicted it was only a matter of time before it would spread across the East River. Bets were placed on the Queens neighborhood around PS1 as the next artist nabe. Others predicted Red Hook. Much of this was wishful thinking promoted by local developers and their friends at the "Times." They believed the old real-estate dictum, "Where artists go, developers will follow." In the case of Queens, they may have jumped the gun, and raised prices too fast, scaring away the artsy. So much for central planning.

Williamsburg has a long tradition of art and performance exhibitions sponsored by local associations as well as artist run not for profit spaces, but it wasn't until the early nineties that some adventurous galleriests pulled up stakes in Soho and pitched camp on the east side of the river.

Annie Herron must be credited with the vision to risk opening the first commercial gallery "Test Site" in 1991. With a decade of experience in Soho and the East Village, her idea of tapping the Williamburg area was sound if, given the sluggish economy at the time, premature. Shortly thereafter Renee Riccardo, another Soho refugee, moved to the Cobble Hill neighborhood and started an alternative salon in her apartment called "Arena." Although commercial success was mixed, these and a few other local art projects received profuse media attention. Resident art aficionados began to see the potential of opening more low budget and no budget ventures to expose the work of themselves as well as their friends, an opportunity not afforded them by the Manhattan gallery system. These shows were often temporary and depended on word of mouth and flyers in local watering holes to announce their openings. Now like a group of junior high school nerds that formed their own club because no one else would have them, they find the tables have turned. Somehow they've become the "in group" and now everyone else wants in on the action.

Players and Predictions

Joe Amrhein at Pierogi may be the highest profile operation in the current Williamsburg scene. In addition to the gallery's ongoing schedule of one man and group shows, Pierogi also maintains flat files representing work by over five hundred artists. These files have traveled to museums in the US and abroad and have garnered rave reviews. When he opened his new space, a clean Soho-like ground floor gallery on North Ninth Street, he raised the bar for presentation and professionalism. During a brief conversation I posed the question, "Where do you see Williamsburg going in the future?" The inscrutable Mr. Amrhein commented that he couldn't have predicted five years ago that things would have come as far as they had. "I just hope the art maintains it's integrity, and that the neighborhood doesn't turn into a huge shopping mall."

Around the corner and a block west on North Seventh is "eyewash," a collaboration between pioneer Annie Herron and local art activist Larry Walczak. Annie brings artists she's worked with form her Soho and E.V. days as well as accomplished locals. Larry, who's own work is decidedly conceptual, has a preference for photo or light and media based work. They're acknowledged as good "eyes" and have been instrumental in spotting new talent and supporting the community. "So far it's been a very grass-roots thing. Now it's changing with international galleries and spaces with backers. Some people would like to see a mix of the new and the old. Some of the new European galleries are more like art advocates with less need to make a profit. In some cases the backers have given their directors five years of financing without the need of sales. Their only requirement is that everything be experimental." Annie added by e-mail, "ÖOnce the economy picked up in the nineties, then people really started paying attention to what was happening here, and of course, we all know that it isn't even the next thing it is THE THING! I wonder how long before it gets sickeningly chi-chi. Alack!"

This dilemma between the commercial and the alternative approach has become a large issue. As local artists, galleries, clubs, and boutiques receive more media notice, more moneyed types are attracted by the life style. They in turn boost rents and put pressure on the low budge operations. In essence they've become victims of their own success.

This brings us to "Momenta Art" on Berry Street. It's one of two not-for-profit spaces in Williamsburg. Directors Eric Heist and Laura Parnes arrived here in 1995, after curating shows independently in Philadelphia and Soho in the late eighties and early nineties. They established "Momenta" about five years ago and are known for their "risky" exhibition choices. " 'Elsewhere' is the first time all the spaces have gotten together for some thing like this. The future? We're lucky, we've got a good landlord and some time on the lease. Thatís what divides some galleries from others. Most galleries here aren't making any money. Joe (Amrhein) sells things at fairly low cost, and people come out here looking for bargains. Nobody with a lot of money has shown up yet. Will it ever become a commercial gallery scene? I hope it never does. People are still afraid of that river. Someone has to drag them out here and then they don't come back on a regular basis. I don't see a Williamsburg style. It's just a place with cheap rents. It's always functioned as an alternative to the rest of the New York thing. I've heard that some of the other spaces are thinking about going public funding, not-for-profit."

Heading south on Wythe Street, going towards the Willie B. Bridge, will bring you to another major site, "Roebling Hall." Originally located on Roebling Street around 1995, this project moved into its current large gallery space about two years ago. Founders Joel Beck and Christian Viveros-Fauné have a broad agenda showing painting, photography, mixed media, and installation works. Their only criteria are high quality and works that are experimentally progressive. During a recent phone conversation Christian shared these thoughts. "Obviously there's a change afoot. The main players all feel that the next year will define whether we're still going to look like an alternative. Our vision has always been to do things that they weren't doing anywhere else, not in Europe, not in New York. Essentially this neighborhood was a hothouse of development. In the last decade it's been people moving in from Soho and Chelsea. They came here to catch a second breath and develop work without the strictures of the commercial scene. We're an alternative. We developed close to the ground, closer to the artist community. We don't have to rake in $20,000 or $30,000 per month to survive. Without that bottom line we at "Roebling Hall" have been able to experiment, to jump on hot new artists and promote their work years before the mainstream caught on. There have been persistent rumors that Jeffery Dietch would come in with big bucks. Bruno Fraschetti is developing something on Grand Street. ABC TV did a piece on our Heidi Cody show. The Producer was talking about the "tipping factor." That's when things go from being unpopular to being popular on a culture wide basis. Williamsburg may be at that "tipping" point.

A bit farther south and east on Broadway one encounters the Williamsburg Arts and Historical Center. Located in the historic King County Savings Bank, this venue represents the more eccentric, eclectic community based art center. The not for profit WAH center doesn't limit itself to the "high art" aesthetics taught in university art history departments, but rather includes the funky, frightening, and wacky that are as much a core part of Brooklyn's soul as Coney Island or Bed Sty. Artist Founder Yuko Nii and friend Terrance Lindall contributed their ideas via e-mail. "Artists running "do it yourself" galleries, showing their friends work and partying at local drinking spas have created a very trendy scene. The galleries all have "cutesy" names, which marks our place in history. A recent example is one called "Pink Pussy." Amusing but trendy doesn't necessarily have staying power. Trends come and go. Only a few can generate enough interest outside their own personal friends to be more than vanity galleries. Another non-profit space, "Momenta" will probably stay around. It will perhaps resemble the "Rotunda" gallery, a respectable institution, but purely local. Today the Williamsburg galleries are essentially 3rd generation trendy postmodernist, and there is really not much "avante guarde" in the "avante guarde." It's rumored that there are now major galleries interested in opening branches in Williamsburg. These are not artist run galleries but professional businesses. The artists they select will have the best chance of having lasting stature. Even museums opened branches downtown, and we expect to see the same thing happen here, because Williamsburg is now the hottest art community in the world."

Every community needs a contrarian, and Michael Pollock of "Farrell/Pollock/Bingo Hall" on Berry Street may be the pragmatist that balances the view. "If pretension doesn't kill the scene, there's hope. There's a cronyism among a group of the better known galleries. A lot of these people are only interested in showing their friends. A lot of the best artists in the community who don't fit the mould aren't being shown. I guess every space has its limitations, particularly when there are over ten thousand artists living in Williamsburg. Some people have been saying that Williamsburg is a reincarnation of the East Village. God, I hope not. Will it become a booming art neighborhood? I think there's probably a better chance of being hit by lightning. I guess people do get struck now and then, but it's rare. We don't have any Saatchis here. In New York the big collectors are old, in their 60s or 70s, not flamboyant young collectors. Right now it's kind of like a tourist town. I see Europeans walking around here in safari outfits. I know there are a lot of hopes and dreams out there but it won't happen. Everyone I know still has a day job. Actually I'm extremely hopeful. I just hope there's a little less pretension."

Proceeding east on North 3rd brings us to "Arena @ Feed." Renee Riccardo has teamed up with Lisa Schroeder and Berry Hylton to provide a more directed focus to this artist run space. During a leisurely sit down Riccardo had this to say. "If you're going to put yourself out there you have a role to fill, you have to be professional. Williamsburg came out of the necessity of artists who didn't have opportunities to show in Chelsea or Soho. We want to be seen as separate from the established art world, we're not market driven like Manhattan. I see myself as a curator as much as a dealer. It's important to show new artists in a nice context. The casual attitude of some of the spaces has been a drawback. When the artists and dealers came together to organize the "Elsewhere" festival, I came up with the title because that's what we were to the media. Now we get to throw it back in their faces. This event will cause people to get more organized. A lot of major art people still haven't made it out here yet. Galleries in Chelsea signed four or five year leases, and as rents go up, and their leases run out, Williamsburg could be the receptacle for those who are displaced. It's pure conjecture, but if the Guggenheim were to open a branch here, that would cause a tremendous influx of professional gallery people."

Around the corner on Hope Street, Lars Haga at "Soapbox" presents a more irascible take. "The scene here in billburg is becoming more and more the same as any other gentrified neighborhood. The rent is going up, new establishments are moving in to capitalize on the suckers who can afford the "life style." What's happening in the galleries isn't much different from what you see in Chelsea. Art is being displayed for the buying public who have little knowledge but want a painting that fits their "cool" apartments, and there are a lot of "cool" apartments in Williamsburg."

We finish our little trek with a visit to the eastern most end of Williamsburg, beyond the elevated BQE highway, to "Flipside." When I posed the question to Caroline Cox and Tim Spelios, they had perhaps the most succinct answer yet. "Where's Williamsburg going? We have absolutely no idea how things will develop. We've been on the eastern edge for a while but now there's "Parlor Projects" which is a couple of blocks farther east of here. This "Elsewhere" festival should be interesting. This is the first time that this community has joined together to do something like this. It should be fun."

"Elsewhere"-- the Williamsburg Arts Festival 2000-- runs Saturday and Sunday, September 23-24. This neighborhood wide festival will feature historic tours, fashion shows, and special events celebrating New York's largest community of artists, writers, performers, and filmmakers.